Wednesday 14 April 2010 03.43 EDT
First published on Wednesday 14 April 2010 03.43 EDT

Toyota's safety crisis deepened further today after it was forced to suspend sales of its latest Lexus 4x4 model in the United States.

The Japanese carmaker took the 2010 Lexus GX 460 off the market after an influential American consumer magazine warned customers that the vehicle was unsafe. Dealers in Canada have also been asked to temporarily halt sales while Toyota investigates claims that the car could flip over, with potentially fatal consequences.

On Tuesday the Consumer Reports magazine took the unusual step of issuing a "don't buy: safety risk" rating on the Lexus. It claimed that the sport utility vehicle's electronic stability control system did not activate fast enough, leading to handling problems when a driver took a tight turn.

"We believe that in real-world driving, that situation could lead to a rollover accident, which could cause serious injury or death," said Consumer Reports. It issued the warning after testing the Lexus. When simulating an unusually fast turn, Consumer Reports found that the back of the car would sometimes slide outwards because the electronic stability system was not keeping the rear wheels under control.

The last time Consumer Reports concluded that a vehicle was not acceptable for consumers to buy was in 2001, when it warned buyers away from the Mitsubishi Montero Limited. "This is the last thing Toyota needs right now," said IHS Global Insight analyst Aaron Bragman.

Toyota said in a statement that it was "confident that the GX meets our high safety standards", but was testing it again. It has sold about 6,000 of the vehicles in North America. Mark Templin, Lexus group vice-president and general manager, has promised customers a loan car while the tests are carried out. The GX is not sold in Britain, but is on sale in the Middle East, Oceania and Russia, and the company said no decision has been made on whether sales would be suspended in those markets as well.

"We are taking the situation with the GX 460 very seriously and are determined to identify and correct the issue Consumer Reports identified," Templin said.

Last month a leaked memo showed that some Toyota staff were concerned that quality standards were slipping as the company made staff work longer hours, outsourced production and cut the development time on new models.

The latest recall will prove a blow to Toyota, which after the most testing year in its history, had appeared to be getting back on its feet, reporting a dramatic increase in sales last month in both the United States and Japan, in part because of incentives offering deep discounts.

During the congressional hearing, Toyoda had expressed "sincere regrets" for the faulty accelerator pedals that were linked to dozens of deaths and injuries. The grandson of Toyota's founder admitted that the company had grown too fast, blurring its priorities, and pledged to shake up management structures to sharpen its focus on safety.

The US federal agency that deals with road vehicle safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said it was also conducting tests on the vehicle.